The present invention refers to the production of automatic machines for packaging various articles into portions of a blister band, commonly called blister packs.
In particular, the articles are medicines, such as tablets, capsules, pills and the like.
Machines are known for producing blisters on a band of thermoformable material and subsequently fill these blisters with articles.
After having been filled, the blister band is driven through a station for checking if the articles are in the blisters (this checking station can De equipped with means for detecting if the articles are not damaged), through a sealing station, where a film, of aluminium is applied to the upper face of the band featuring the open blisters, and through a severing station, where the sealed blister band is cut into separate blister packs.
Usually, there are other additional stations before the severing station, such as station where a numeric code containing the production date and lot is anplied.
Downstream of the severing station, there are means forming a stack of blisters to be introduced into a corresponding container.
There is also a station, where off-cuts remaining after the blister packs has been cropped, are broken into small pieces and gathered for subsequent recycling.
A shattering device is provided for chopping the off-cuts, so as to make them smaller and to facilitate the recycling operations.
The shattering device must operate in areas of the blister band which do not feature blisters, so as to avoid jams, which can occur when a part of the band to form a blister pack is not complete and therefore is not cropped, but passes directly to the off-cuts chopping station.
Therefore, it is necessary to adjust precisely the position of this shattering device with respect to the position of blisters on the band.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,888 discloses a blister-packaging machine wherein packaging material is treated at a succession of fluid-actuated stations arranged in-line and along which the packaging material is transported.
This machine includes treatment means at the respective stations and means for transporting the packaging material from station to station intermittently and wherein the respective treatment means are programmed to treat the packaging material at dwell time in such intermittent transporting.
The transporting means grips the packaging material continuously along its opposite edges at one of the treatment stations.
The stations include, in sequence blister-forming, filling, sealing, and perforating stations for the packaging material, and also transporting, printing, and cut-off stations for the packaging material.
The most important problem of this type of machines is connected with the size change over, i.e. adapting the working means to a different size of blisters to be produced, in time as short as possible.
It is also important to reduce the number of operators involved in the size change over operation, maintaining reduced times.
Known technical solutions require long slowing down of the working means fastened to the relative bodies joined to the machine support structure, substitution of these means, adjustment of the positions and finally, locking.
Therefore, possible alternatives are to assign more people to the substitution or provide longer periods of time before the production activity is resumed.
One object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that allows size change over in extremely short time without involving more than one person and without constructive complications.
In the light of what above, another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus equipped with Locking systems operated by means controlled by a suitable control unit, thus allowing to automatically lock or unlock, selectively or globally, working means to be changed or adjusted.
According to further object of the invention, all the substitution operations must be performed in very short periods of time, which is possible due to the fact that the apparatus is arranged to unlock and lock working means by actuators which work practically instantaneously.
In short, according to the objects of the invention, the operator does not have to work for hours to release the means to be changed and to tighten them again after having adjusted their position.
According to still further object of the invention, the adjustment of the working means positions is performed by electronic means, thus making it possible to memorise and subsequently recall parameters of the means to be adjusted.
The above mentioned objects are obtained in accordance with the content of the claims, by means of an apparatus for printing, scoring, cropping blister packs obtained from a blister band, and for chopping remaining off-cuts, the apparatus being mounted on an automatic machine for packaging articles into blister packs, with said machine including:
a station, in which a numeric code is applied to the blister band by a numbering devices operated by actuators, with first guide means for the blister band;
a scoring station, equipped with scoring means operated by actuators, and with second guide means for the blister band;
driving means for the blister band;
a cropping station, equipped with severing means operated by actuators, with third guide means for the blister band, and with an oscillating arm provided with picking up means for picking up the completed blister packs and sending them to a packaging device;
a station, in which remaining off-cuts of the blister band are chopped; and
a base body for supporting all said means of the above mentioned stations.
The claimed apparatus is characterised in that said stations are equipped with clamping means for each said numbering devices, scoring members, severing means, and with motorised releasing elements acting on said clamping means as to release said numbering device, cutting members and severing means and to allow the substitution and automatic adjustment thereof by adjustment means in relation to the size of blister packs to be obtained.